North Dallas Bank & Trust Co. Invests $1.07 Million in Southern Company (The) $SO

North Dallas Bank & Trust Co. acquired a new position in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm acquired 12,250 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,068,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Triumph Capital Management purchased a new stake in shares of Southern in the third quarter worth approximately $29,000. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Southern in the third quarter worth approximately $35,000. Legacy Wealth Managment LLC ID purchased a new stake in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Kingdom Financial Group LLC. purchased a new stake in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter worth approximately $33,000. 64.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 6,669 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.55, for a total value of $643,891.95. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 30,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,973,740. This trade represents a 17.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.67, for a total value of $2,416,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 103,602 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,015,205.34. The trade was a 19.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.16% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SO opened at $92.93 on Wednesday. Southern Company has a 1-year low of $83.80 and a 1-year high of $100.83. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $94.13 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $91.87. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68. The firm has a market cap of $104.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.34.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.32 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.21 by $0.11. Southern had a return on equity of 12.64% and a net margin of 14.46%.The firm had revenue of $8.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.07 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.23 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Southern Company will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 18th were issued a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 18th. This is an increase from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.3%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is 77.35%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on SO. Evercore raised Southern from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $111.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. TD Cowen upped their target price on Southern from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 6th. Weiss Ratings raised Southern from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. KeyCorp raised Southern from an “underweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, February 20th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Southern has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $99.38.

Southern Company Profile

Southern Company (NYSE: SO) is an Atlanta-based energy holding company that provides electric and gas utility services and owns power generation assets across the United States. Founded in 1945, the company operates a portfolio of regulated electric utilities and affiliated businesses that generate, transmit and distribute electricity to residential, commercial and industrial customers.

Southern’s principal regulated electric subsidiaries include Georgia Power, Alabama Power and Mississippi Power, which serve large portions of the southeastern United States.